Attack of the Something
by Draco the Lizard
Summary: Giles discovers that something is killing dogs. Naturally, he sends Buffy, Willow and Xander to figure out what it is, and if possible to kill it. Season 1ish. [Oneshot, expect no sequel]


Disclaimer: All characters and so on belong to Joss Whedon, he made them, not me. I just invented Jason and David, vampire losers extraordinaire.  
  
Setting: Season 1-ish.  
  
Jason and David had been vampires for quite some time now. In fact, they didn't even know how long they had been vampires, because neither of them kept the time. And since they only came out of hiding at night, it was even more difficult for them. They were used to the sophisticated ways of telling time by seeing what was on televison, or what subject they had in school. They didn't go to school anymore, which for them was the best thing of being dead. They didn't watch television anymore either, which for them was the worst thing of being dead.  
  
So instead of aimlessly switching between various music channels, they were doomed to wander outside and see if there was something to eat.  
  
That was another problem for the duo, the food. Jason's sire had been an alcoholic vampire who had made Jason a vampire more by accident than by intention. When Jason asked him how a vampire lived and how they were supposed to get blood, the sire had just shrugged and carried on rummaging in trashcans. It was no surprise he died a short while ago by forgetting to hide when the sun came up. Jason had watched his sire get burned from their hide-out, one of the unused warehouses. He started to feel lonely, and after very little convincing he also turned his best friend David into a vampire. David kicked a can and looked around. "I'm bored. Bored AND hungry."  
  
Jason could only agree. "I know, man, but come on, it's only a few hours 'till the bars close. We can get some drunk idiot then."  
  
"I'm tired of only getting scum like that. I'm tired of getting drunk everytime we feed, and of having a killer hangover afterwards." David replied.  
  
"D'you have any better ideas?" Jason asked his scowling friend. After a sullen "No." Jason led to way to one of the seedier bars in Sunnydale.  
  
It didn't take the two long to get themselves a victim and after finishind the last of him, they dumped him in a trashcan.  
  
"But, half of 'is leg is sticking out." David pointed out.  
  
Jason glared at the leg, mentally willing it to dissapear in the trashcan. It didn't work of course. "Aah, who cares? 'S only some bum anyway. C'mon, less go." Jason dragged his friend away, who was still pointing at the leg.  
  
"What d'ya wanna do?" David asked after a short while. "I'm still bored."  
  
"I say," Jason paused. "I say we do something, something fun."  
  
"Fun? Fun sounds... fun." David giggled.  
  
"Yes." Jason looked around. What could they do at this time of the night? It wasn't long before the sun would rise, and even though their hide-out wasn't that far away, he didn't want to end like his sire. His eyes finally focused on something. "Dave? I think we found something to have fun with." He grinned, grabbed the sleeve of David's jacket and set course for it.  
  
As her alarm clock went off, Buffy groaned and stretched out a hand to turn the annoying sound off. She glared at the numbers before getting up. "You'd think a Slayer would get to sleep in sometime," she muttered as she picked out some clothes. "I save lives on a nightly basis and still I have to get up and go to school. It's not fair." Her Watcher kept reminding her that killing vampires was't a career with job oppurtinities and high wages, and that her school work shouldn't suffer under it. At least not too much.  
  
She stifled a yawn as she walked downstairs. She greeted her mother who was reading the paper while sipping some coffee. "Slept well?" her mother asked. Buffy nodded before pouring herself some cereal and milk.  
  
Joyce looked at her daughter eating and felt a bit worried about her. There was something different about Buffy ever since they moved to Sunnydale. She seemed quieter for one thing, and so far no teacher or principal had called to complain. Joycehoped it would stay that way, and that the move would do Buffy some good. She told herself Buffy was still adjusting to the new school and new friends. "Everything's fine in school, right?" she asked, just to make sure.  
  
Buffy looked up from reading the cereal ingredients. "Huh? Oh yeah, sure. Everything's fine." She smiled to reassure her mother.  
  
"And with your friends? No one's treating you different because you're still a bit new, right?"  
  
"Mom, you've met Willow and Xander, right? I'm fine, no one's bothering me," Buffy told her mother. And it was true, except for Cordelia and her bitchy friends no one treated her differently, a relief from her previous school.  
  
Joyce smiled. She had met Willow and Xander and liked the two. She hoped Willow and her studious nature would be a good influence on her daughter and Xander, well, he was just a normal teenage guy like many others.  
  
After breakfast, Joyce dropped Buffy off at school and there the schoolday started and ended just like every other, normal, day. Afterwards, she and her friends went to the library to meet up with Giles. Doubtless there was some evil monster lurking, or he wanted to give Buffy some more training.  
  
"Ah, there you are. I was just putting some books back.(comma)" Giles said, as he saw the trio enter the library. "It's amazing. Why would anyone put Sartre next to Shakespeare?" Giles shook his head sadly. "They shouldn't be anywhere near each other, philosophy goes on a completely different shelf."  
  
He joined Buffy, Willow and Xander who had already taken a seat and handed them the newspaper. "Here, there's something interesting on the third page."  
  
Xander turned to page three, and Willow and Buffy leaned over to read. There was no report of someone being killed horribly, or something else that was suspicious. She looked up at Giles, who was drinking his tea. "Erm, Giles? Are you sure this is the right page?"  
  
"Oh yes. It's the article about the dogs," he replied.  
  
"Aww, poor dogs!" Willow exclaimed, as she found the article. "The police thinks someone is killing stray dogs because there's been so many dead strays found."  
  
"I'm sorry for the dogs, but that's hardly demonic, is it?" Buffy asked, leaning back in her seat.  
  
"Actually, a friend of mine at the police station informed me that the dogs have been drained of their blood," Giles informed her. "It could be a vampire, but a vampire must be very desperate to feed on dogs. They need human blood to survive, or at least as close to human as possible. Probably because they used to be human, but that's just a hypothesis." Giles shrugged. "Either way, I want you to patrol in areas with stray dogs. Maybe it's just a desperate vampire, but dog's blood is used in some dark rituals, and it's possible the Master has his henchman killing the dogs to get the blood."  
  
Buffy nodded. The less power and henchmen the Master had, the better. She knew she was nowhere near ready to fight him, but every day she was training to beat him and she knew she would be able to sometime in the future. "Okay, if it's a vampire I'll kill it, and if it's not I'll kill it as well." She smiled confidently.  
  
That evening, she and her friends were walking the streets. It was a friday anyway, and Willow and Xander had shown that they could take care of themselves in battle either by running away or helping her.  
  
"I really hope it's not the Master," Willow said, as they were walking through a dark alley.  
  
"Seconded," Xander said. "The more desperate the vampire, the better for us."  
  
Buffy was looking around in the alley. She couldn't see any dogs or humans. "Giles could've at least said where stray dogs are in this town."  
  
"Oh, they don't really have a regular hang-out spot, and dogs aren't exactly creatures of the night, y'know," Xander said.  
  
"Still, we've been patrolling for an hour and we haven't seen one dog yet." Buffy was getting a bit annoyed at that. On her first couple of patrols she had often mistook a scuttling dog for a vampire, but where were they when she needed to protect them?  
  
"Maybe they're hiding? Dogs are pretty smart," Willow guessed.  
  
Buffy shrugged. "Could be."  
  
Just then, a loud bark made them turn around. It was a German shepherd, running towards them through the alley. Buffy thought it was going to attack her, but it ran past them. Willow had climbed on a couple of crates, and Xander had followed her. "Well, I guess..." Buffy started, but then another dog ran through the alley. This time it was a white terrier, barking just as furious as the German shepherd, but it was less threatening than the bigger dog. Willow and Xander climbed down as the little dog ran past them. It seemed to be following the German shepherd for some reason. Buffy kept looking at the dog as it turned the same corner the German shepherd had.  
  
"That was weird," Willow said. "Why would a German shepherd run from a little dog like that?"  
  
"Maybe they were both running from the same thing, and the terrier fell behind," Xander guessed.  
  
"At least they got away successfully," Buffy said. They started to walk on, but suddenly heard two dogs growling. "The little dog must've caught up with the other one," she assumed. They listened to the sounds of the fight as they slowly walked on. Buffy froze as a terrible howl filled the air and sent shivers down her spine. Silence followed, and three friends looked at each other.  
  
"That howl. It sounded like the shepherd," Willow said, sounding worried.  
  
"They were probably fighting whatever kills those dogs around here." Buffy tried to forget the unnerving howl and walked towards the corner. She looked around the corner, and saw the little terrier sitting next to the German shepherd's dead body. She signalled for Willow and Xander to join her.  
  
The little terrier was radiating innocence, and looked at them with cute puppy eyes. "Maybe whoever killed the dog is already gone," Xander said, looking around the alley. "I wonder why the little fellow didn't run away."  
  
Buffy knelt down next to the terrier and petted it. "I guess they needed a lot of dog blood. You don't kill a cute, little dog like this. You go for the big ones."  
  
Willow joined her. "You must've fought bravely, cutie," she smiled.  
  
Xander suddenly noticed something on the white dog. "Guys, you'd better back off I think."  
  
"Why? He's not going hurt us," Willow said.  
  
"He's got blood around his nose, Will. Maybe he killed the German shepherd." Xander was getting worried.  
  
"Come on Xander, like a cute little dog like this could kill a German shepherd," Buffy said. "No way, those German shepherds could be pretty fierce, this little one would've been ripped to shreds."  
  
Xander was visibly uncomfortable. There was something odd about the dog. "Look, let's just go, okay? Maybe we can find the killer before he kills more dogs."  
  
"You're right." Buffy stood up. "I don't want other dogs getting murdered like this one."  
  
"Goodbye cutie, wish I could take you home." Willow petted the dog one last time and joined Buffy and Xander, who were walking out of the alley.  
  
They had just turned the corner when Buffy heard a familiar sound. The sound of a hungry vampire feeding, the slurping sound she had heard quite often already. And it was just around the corner. She ran back, and couldn't believe her eyes. The white terrier was feeding on the shepherd, its muzzle strangely malformed. "Oh my God..." she muttered.  
  
Xander and Willow couldn't believe it either. "Still want to take him home, Will?"  
  
The terrier turned around, and its muzzle turned back to its adorable self. He wagged his tail, and tried to look innocent.  
  
"No way, we're on to you now." Buffy took out one of her stakes. She had no experience in killing vampire dogs, but she was sure she could slay it.  
  
The dog took a couple of uncertain steps, obviously trying to convince them it was just an innocent little dog. When it noticed they weren't fooled, it ran towards them with incredible speed. Willow managed to jump away, but Xander was less lucky. The dog's extra long fangs sunk in his calf, and Xander fell down and tried to kick the dog off his leg.  
  
"Xander, hold still!" Buffy yelled, and tried to stake the dog. However, since Xander was moving too much, she missed. "I told you, don't move!"  
  
Xander held still, and he could feel the dog drinking his blood. "Buff, hurry! The damn thing is feeding on me!" he cried out. Buffy swiftly drove a stake through the little dog's body, and it turned to dust. The blood was still flowing out of the wound. "We'd better go to the hospital," Xander said, sitting on a crate. Buffy and Willow nodded and helped him up. Since there was no way Xander could stand on the wounded leg, he leaned on his friends on the way there.  
  
When Buffy told Giles her story, he couldn't believe it. "Why would a vampire turn a dog?" he asked, incredulous. "Maybe for company, but still, to get a dog to drink your blood must be quite difficult. It does explain why it was feeding on other dogs. A dog vampire needs dog blood, and a human vampire needs human blood."  
  
"Guess so. I just hope there aren't any other animal vampires around, the human ones are strong enough," Buffy responded.  
  
After he hang up the phone, Giles made a note of it in his Watcher's Diary. The Council would be really surprised this time. 


End file.
